


All the Sunny Days to Come

by Finch2000



Category: Fate/stay night & Related Fandoms, Fate/stay night (Visual Novel)
Genre: F/F, F/M, Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-05-20
Updated: 2015-08-07
Packaged: 2018-03-31 11:14:55
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 9
Words: 21,254
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3976006
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Finch2000/pseuds/Finch2000
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Six months after the end of the Holy Grail War, Rin discovers that she is developing feelings for a certain someone. The problem is, that certain someone is not her boyfriend. Post-sunny day ending. (Chapter 4 added)</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Special note: I wrote this before I started Hollow Ataraxia, so any similarities/differences are completely coincidental. Furthermore it's been ages since I actually read through F/SN so I may make minor lore errors. Please feel free to point these errors out and I will fix them as best I can, provided I can still make them fit into the story. If I can't fit them into the story I'll pretend I didn't read them.

Rin Tohsaka stared at the ceiling of her bedroom at 4 in the morning. It wasn't a particularly bad looking ceiling. Maybe in need of a new coat of paint but otherwise pretty decent. But she wasn't losing sleep to admire the various minor details of her room, but instead because she was troubled by her emotions. Specifically, she was bothered by a feeling of love. It wasn't love towards her de facto boyfriend of 6 months, Shirou, and that's what worried her. Instead she was feeling love towards her new “familiar” Saber.  
“It's wrong.” She told herself as she buried her face in her pillow. Whether she felt that way because Saber was another girl or because she was already in a “sort-of” relationship was uncertain. It's not that Rin ever considered herself attracted to women. Sure, she found some girls good-looking, but that doesn't automatically mean you're into that sort of thing, does it? She groaned in frustration and rolled over to face the window. The deep indigo of the sky outside told her that the sunrise was still a little ways away. She shut her eyes tightly and told herself to sleep while she still could.  
When she closed her eyes, however, her thoughts drifted to the golden-haired girl down the hall. After the war's end they had all decided that it would be best for Saber to live with Rin. As fun as it was, the three of them figured that they could no longer all stay at Shirou's house without arousing suspicion from Taiga. And so, Rin returned to that lonely western-styled mansion on the hill. Over the next six months the three of them lived happily in their new, quiet life. Saber and Rin bonded as Master and Servant during the week, and on the weekends Rin and Shirou would frequently go on “dates” around town. It was a simple routine, and it was a welcome change from the dangers of the Holy Grail War.   
But for some reason she wasn't satisfied. More and more, over the past few weeks, she was troubled by thoughts and feelings. Thoughts like how beautiful Saber's hair was, or how her emerald eyes seemed to shimmer in the moonlight. The most disturbing thought came to her after seeing Saber leave the path clad only in a towel, and after that Rin's face burned red whenever she looked at Saber for a week. Perhaps the most frustrating thing was how familiar the feeling was. Was it familiar because she felt the same for Shirou? Of course she already knew the answer. It was familiar because she had felt the same way ever since she first saw Saber on that cold winter night six months ago.  
“I'm such a twisted person.” She told herself. “I'm in a great relationship already, why can't I be happy with that?” It wasn't that she was unhappy with Shirou; the opposite in fact, she had never been happier. “I never thought I was someone who always wanted what she couldn't have.” She shoved her head into the pillow roughly in a show of half-hearted self-flagellation and forced her eyes closed. “SLEEP!” She shouted, as though it were a spell. Maybe it was, or maybe the exhaustion just caught up with her; in any case before long she was snoring softly.  
She found herself drawn into a familiar dream. She was on a hill overlooking a field. The sky was red and swollen as a blister in the light of the setting sun. The air was heavy with a strange sickly smell she couldn't quite recognize. Her body was heavy too. Her armor weighed down on her chest, forcing her to struggle to breathe. She reached up to try and loosen the cloth around her throat, and her hand came back covered in blood. It was then that she remembered that she was dying; cloven from collarbone to hip by her own sword. She had seen enough of battle to know that there was no recovering from a wound like that without some sort of magic, and with her sheath missing things were looking grim. She thought of all the things she had left undone and it scared her. She didn't want to die. The dream ended suddenly. Down the hall Saber awoke in a cold sweat.  
Reflexively she reached over to the place beside her bed where she kept her sword, but that was a thousand years ago, and the only thing there was her alarm clock. “Five-thirty...” She took a few deep breaths to calm herself down. She felt the sheets around her, and it was as though someone had dumped a bucket of cold water on her. “Was I really sweating that much?” She stepped lightly down the hall, taking care not to disturb her housemate. She entered the bathroom and peeled off her pajamas, throwing them into the laundry hamper before opening the bath faucet and sliding in. As the hot water slowly filled the tub she noticed her hands were still shaking.  
“What's wrong with me?” Saber sighed. “It's only a dream.” She lied to herself, knowing that it was only half-true. She knew that Servants never had dreams, only memories. “I don't understand.” She slid neck-deep into the water. Before the war ended all she could think about was winning the Holy Grail, but now that it was over, she just couldn't let it go. To her that hill was a hell she earned for her failure as a king. Without that mission it was like she had lost a chunk of herself.  
She looked at one of her hands. She was starting to prune up, which was a good sign that she had been in the bath for long enough. That and her hands had stopped shaking. She just had to push the memory out of her mind, she was past that now. She had the rest of her life to look forward to, no kingdom to watch over, no dragons to slay. For once she could just live for herself. But what scared her was the thought of possibly returning to that bloody hill when her time ran out. 

Saber entered the dining room, her skin still flushed from the heat of the bath. She found Rin sitting at the table drinking coffee drowsily. “You didn't sleep well?” Saber asked. She had lived with Rin long enough to know that she wasn't a morning person, but this morning she looked even more dozy than usual.   
“Just nightmares.” Rin replied absently. After a moment she mentally kicked herself. More and more recently, Rin found herself having increasingly vivid dreams about Saber's past, but so far she had avoided talking about the uncomfortable subject.  
Saber either didn't notice or didn't care, she only nodded. Even after all this time, Rin had trouble reading Saber's emotions. “Are you still going out with Shirou this afternoon?”   
“Crap.” She sighed. “I almost forgot.” She rubbed her eyes before looking at the clock on the wall. It was 6 AM so she still had more than enough time to shower and prepare for the upcoming lunch date. “I never realized how much time relationships took.” She smiled, stirring her coffee absently. “Do you know what it's like?” Truth be told, Rin had been curious about this topic for some time now, but she seldom had an excuse to bring it up.   
“I am not sure what you mean.” Saber poured a glass of juice and took a seat across the table from Rin.  
“Well... In the legend I mean, your legend; you were married weren't you?” Rin asked, letting curiosity get the better of her.  
Saber nodded again. “That is correct. I was married to Guinevere, daughter of Leodegrance. While we were close, it was never anything more than a political marriage.”  
“I see.” Rin suddenly remembered how that marriage ended in the legends, and realized that the subject was likely sorer than Saber was letting on. A part of her felt bad that Saber never experienced romance in her life as a human, but there was another that was almost glad. Was this jealousy? “Why should I feel jealous when she's not 'mine' to feel jealous over?” Rin mentally kicked herself for her selfishness.   
Rin quickly changed the subject. “Are you going out job hunting again today?” She had noticed that Saber was dressed in loose-fitting, breezy clothes, so it was safe to assume she had planned on walking a lot. These days Saber spent most days walking around Fuyuki's commercial districts looking for someone to hire her for any small job. Unfortunately, no one wanted to be arrested for hiring an illegal immigrant, and without any official paperwork, Saber had no way to prove her credibility. Not that she was a legitimate citizen to begin with.  
“That's right.” She smiled. “Sooner or later I will have to start pulling my weight somehow.” They had had this discussion before. Saber seemed convinced that she needed to make herself useful by going to find work. Rin insisted that her finances were perfectly fine without help, but Saber would have none of it. Eventually Rin just stopped trying to dissuade her and let her go around from store to store asking for some work to do, knowing nothing would come of it. However, after remembering the package that arrived the day before, Rin smiled to herself secretly. Maybe with the help of that special surprise, job hunting would be a lot easier.  
“Is everything set for this weekend?” Rin asked her boyfriend from across the table in between bites of her croque monsieur. Today's lunch date venue was a small French themed cafe in Shinto that Rin had taken a liking to.   
“Well the food is prepared. Issei was a bit hard to convince after I told him you'd be there though.” Shirou scratched the back of his head awkwardly. “But he said he'd do it for Saber's sake.”  
“Is he still hinting that you should dump me?” Rin was always somewhat amused by Issei's instinctive dislike of her and Caster. Part of her wondered if he had some sort of natural ability to detect magic or if he just naturally didn't like women. Rin once proposed an experiment to Shirou to test her hypothesis, but he was, of course, vehemently against the idea. She still planned on doing it anyway eventually.  
“I think he's graduated to outright telling me that.” Shirou scratched the back of his head, giving Rin his best “what can you do” expression.  
“Well he was never one to be subtle about his dislike of me.” She grinned, putting down her sandwich. “You know he's been against us dating for something like six months?”  
“Has it really been that long already?”  
“Well... if you count when I took you and Saber out during the war, it's almost six months exactly.”  
“I see...” He rubbed his chin thoughtfully. “I hadn't been keeping track.”   
“Hey now!” Rin exclaimed with feigned indignity. “I'm going to be mad if you forget our anniversary.”  
“I think we were all a little too busy during that time to properly keep track of the day.” He argued in a way that left Rin unsure whether or not he was actually defending himself or if he was just humoring her teasing. “And besides it's not like either one of us just said 'OK now we're officially dating' it just sorta happened.”   
Rin rolled her eyes and went back to eating but after a moment of thought, she added. “Saber's been around for just about as long, too.” She looked suddenly pensive.  
“It does feel like a whole lot longer, doesn't it?”  
“Yeah...” Rin paused awkwardly, suddenly reminded of her sleepless night. “Hey Shirou?” She sounded a bit more nervous than she had hoped. “What do you think of Saber?”  
For a moment he seemed a bit surprised by the question, but he quickly smiled and said. “She's an important friend. I can't tell you how glad I was when I found out she wouldn't just vanish after the grail war ended.”  
“Are you attracted to her?” She raised an eyebrow, putting a faint teasing edge to her words.  
“W-well...” He was definitely starting to get a bit nervous now, probably afraid of saying something that would make Rin mad. “I'd be lying if I said she wasn't beautiful.”  
“No argument there.” She nodded. “Definitely the prettiest girl I know.” She noticed Shirou relax as soon as he saw that the danger had seemingly passed, until she decided to drop the second half of her question on him. “So would you date her if you weren't dating me?” She wasn't asking out of jealousy, of course, she just wondered what he thought of the girl she accidentally found herself falling for.  
In response he quietly elected to take a sip of his cola. After a few moments of waiting patiently, Rin realized he was, in fact, just chugging the whole glass of it to buy time. When he was finished he put the glass down, eyes watering. “This stuff is really unhealthy huh... Parents probably shouldn't let their kids drink this. What was the question again?”  
Unshaken by his attempts to change the subject she simply asked again. “Would you date Saber?” She tried to keep her tone as non-accusatory as possible.  
“Tohsaka... you know there are laws against entrapment, right?”   
“I'm not trying to entrap you!” She lost her temper momentarily and hit her hand against the table. “I'm just curious what you think, I promise I won't get mad whatever you say.”  
“Since you promised.” He nodded, taking time to think out his answer. After a few moments he finally said “I think I could see myself going out with her. It makes me wonder what would have happened if things had turned out differently.”  
Rin thought this response was fair enough. Sometimes she was baffled by how hopelessly honest Shirou was. Most people would just lie say something like “oh no, you're the only one for me, blah blah blah.” If only to make their partner feel better. Of course she couldn't be upset with him. After all she felt the same way, more or less. Maybe it was the lack of sleep getting to her, but she let slip a comment she had wanted to keep quiet. “Yeah, I probably would too.”  
“I see.” He said visibly getting a bit nervous. “I guess I didn't know that about you.” His tone was hard to read, as was often the case. On the one hand it sounded like he may have been joking to ease the tension, but it also seemed like he was trying to be supportive of his girlfriend's admission. “Anyway...” He wisely changed the subject, and for the rest of the date they discussed far simpler topics with only a small fraction of the prior awkwardness.

And there we have the first chapter. I'm mainly posting this to gauge interest, so please tell me in reviews/replies if you're liking it so far and I'll keep writing more. If no one likes it I probably won't continue.


	2. Restless Days

Saber walked past the bistro where Rin and Shirou were having their date. She briefly considered looking through the front window and waving to them, but she decided that it was better to let them have their privacy. Instead she continued along her predetermined route through Shinto. Over the past few months she had been going door to door along all the businesses, asking for work, and promptly being denied. Some business were forthright and honest, some were subtler and simply said "we'll call you back" but in the end the result was always the same. No one in their right mind wanted to hire a mysterious foreigner with no documentation.

Of course there was the odd exception. There was a mahjong parlor run by a group of intimidating men in identical black suits who seemed suspiciously eager to hire her right away, no questions asked. However, when Saber, excitedly talked about this development over that night's dinner, Rin suddenly looked very serious and told her that she was better off looking for another job.

This afternoon, Saber was, as usual, dressed in her Sunday best (even though it was Thursday). When she first started her job hunt Rin told her, quite confidently: "You need to look your best when looking for a job." And that afternoon they went out and bought Saber all sorts of nice clothes, a process that Rin seemed to find endlessly amusing for some reason. Today she chose a simple sundress the color of the clear sky above. It was a bit more revealing than she was comfortable with, but Rin assured her it was perfectly normal for girls these days. Her inner pragmatist couldn't deny that it was much cooler and more comfortable, even in the oppressive summer heat, but she couldn't help but blush every time she noticed someone looking at her exposed legs or arms.

"Next is… Yamate Street." She said quietly to herself, looking through her small notebook of locations to search. The place in question looked more like an alleyway than a proper street, however. It didn't seem like the kind of place you'd want to be after dark, but her notebook said there were a few small restaurants along the way.

Someone was waiting for her. "Hey missy! You know the Takeda family doesn't take kindly to being turned down." She was confronted by a group of tall men wearing sunglasses, some of whom she recognized from the Mahjong parlor. Slowly, a pair of the men circled around her like wolves and stood in the way of the exit back onto the main road.

Saber had seen this sort of behavior before. "You're brigands then?" She stood defiant, staring the man who seemed to be the leader in the eyes. Obviously, she wasn't afraid of this particular variety of scumbag, but she knew all too well that without the presence of the grail keeping her stable she had to rely on Rin entirely for mana. In effect, her physical capability was severely limited, and too much exertion could cause her to simply vanish.

"Brigands?" He grinned wolfishly. "That's an old fashioned word coming from a kid like you." The man was around six feet tall with a shaved head. His most prominent feature however was a gaudy tattoo of a dragon coiling around his bald cranium, breathing fire over his heavily scarred face. "We keep this city running you know! Old man Fujimura has gone soft in his old age, so the Takeda family stepped in to pick up some of his slack." He exclaimed proudly, thumping his chest with his fist.

"We already told our customers we'd be hiring a new girl, so you don't really get to say no." One of the men behind her quipped. "What are you? A first year? I'm sure some of our more refined customers will pay big for someone like you, especially for a foreigner."

These men made Saber's skin crawl. "I suggest you stand aside, lest you get hurt." A command that only made the men laugh at her. There were four of them, all of them armed with some form of knife of blunt instrument, and before them stood a small, unarmed girl, armored only in a feminine dress. It's only natural they wouldn't take her seriously.

"You've got guts missy, I'll give you that." The leader said as one of the men behind Saber stepped forward, grabbing her by the shoulder. "But you're coming with us whether you want to or not."

Saber took a deep breath, closing her eyes for a moment. She had no choice, and knew that if she didn't conserve energy she was as good as dead. Every movement would have to be absolutely perfect and efficient. With a bolt she turned her shoulder, stepping forward. She grabbed his wrist and pulled him along with the turning motion, throwing him off balance. Thankfully he was unprepared for a fight and he easily lost his footing. He fell shoulder-first onto the pavement with a sickening crack and a agonizing scream that told her that he would not be getting back up.

The rest of the men froze in place, looking first at their fallen friend and then the small girl who knocked him down so effortlessly. The leader narrowed his eyes, suspiciously, but nodded at his remaining friends, which they took as a cue to draw their weapons. The thug in front of her pulled what seemed to be an extending baton from his waistband, while the familiar sound of steel being drawn told her that the man behind her had pulled out some sort of blade.

Both men rushed forward, each quickly closing the short distance between themselves and Saber in a moment. The man with the knife arrived first and swung his weapon, slashing at Saber's back in a heavy, downward motion. It was easy to hear his footsteps and the rush of air as he swung, so avoiding it was just a matter of stepping to the side. She didn't even need to look, which let her focus on the man in front, currently swiping at her head with a bludgeon. Reacting quickly, she ducked and allowed the blow to sail over her head. She noticed quickly that this man was as inexperienced as his fallen comrade, and the thumping noise accompanied by a grunt of pain told her that the man with the baton had accidentally struck the man with the knife.

At this moment, Saber saw an opportunity. In the process of striking out, the baton man locked out his elbow, if only for a brief moment. That moment was all she needed. As the man with the knife was reeling, she caught the other man's wrist with her bent arm, and pushed against the back of his elbow with her open hand. There was a loud cracking pop as his arm bent the wrong way. He stepped back and stared at his dangling arm in horror before running away, screaming.

Now Saber was finally free to focus her attention on the man with the knife. She stepped back into a position where she could keep an eye on both him and his leader. The leader's face was now twisted with rage, and his crony didn't seem much happier. He apparently had broken his nose when the club wielder smacked him, and blood was running down his face from the appendage in question. By Saber's estimation, neither of them were interested in capturing her alive any longer. The knife man stepped closer, stabbing directly at her abdomen, confirming her suspicions. In response, she grabbed him by the wrist, locking it, while simultaneously striking him in the windpipe. She turned along with his movement, spinning him on his axis and slamming him back-first on the ground. The improvised body-slam, combined with the throat blow left the man coughing and gasping as he released the hold on his knife.

Saber picked up the discarded weapon and pointed it at the remaining thug. His tattooed face started to pale as he realized that Saber could easily close the distance between them in a moment. Suddenly he began fiddling with his belt. At first she was confused by this, but confusion turned to dread when she saw him pull out a compact pistol from his waistband. She had seen the damage a firearm could perform firsthand, and with no proper weapon, no armor, and no mana even she may have been wounded by a direct hit from it. She wasn't sure whether or not her protection as a Servant would extend to her when she had no magical energy remaining, and she wasn't willing to try.

The next moment passed in a blur. With a rush of adrenaline and mana Saber rushed forward and slashed at the leader. She heard a loud bang and a whizzing noise as the bullet zoomed past her ear. There was a moment of silence as both combatants stood still. The silence was broken by the sound of dripping blood. Saber looked up to see the leader staring, mouth agape at his bloodied arm. Just as Saber had intended, her cut had disarmed the man, letting the weapon drop to the ground harmlessly, along with his severed hand.

The man's face grew even paler as the blood drained from him. After a moment he let out a scream of horror and fainted, falling on the ground with a thud. The whole engagement lasted less than a minute, but Saber felt the exhaustion wash over her. However she made sure to leave the scene before letting the feeling show on her face and in her posture. "Is this really all I can manage now?" She asked herself.

When she was safely out of sight and hearing range of the disabled men she finally let go of her composure. Her breathing became ragged and she had to lean against a wall to stop herself from falling over. She touched her forehead and noticed that her body temperature had risen drastically. It was as if her body was fighting against itself, and was tearing itself apart in the process. It was then that she saw she had taken a defensive wound in the fight. A long red gash had appeared down the length of her inner forearm, at some point. She figured it must have come from when she grabbed the knife wielder's wrist.

Under most circumstances healing the wound would be nothing, but obviously, these conditions were far from normal. She tried to step forward, but only managed to slip and fall flat on her rear, sitting with her back to the wall. This was bad. Every drop of blood she shed was valuable mana draining away, and healing the wound supernaturally would take even more mana. She was assaulted by a strange, unfamiliar feeling. A feeling she hadn't known in a decade. She thought of her friends Rin and Shirou, and everyone she had come to know in Fuyuki. Finally she realized what the sensation was. She was scared of dying.

"I'm here, Miss, don't worry!" Saber heard the voice of an old woman. She looked up and saw the source of the voice. It was an older woman she had never seen before carrying a small white box. She looked like an average, everyday person around sixty or seventy years old. "I had to run inside and grab my first-aid kit." She raised the box, showing the Red Cross on the cover. "You got into a nasty bit of trouble didn't you…" She sounded like a grandma chastising a naughty child, as she immediately crouched down next to the blonde girl and resting the case on the ground.

"Who are you?" Saber asked wearily, as the old woman pulled out a bottle of disinfectant, and applied it to a sterile cloth.

"This will sting." She warned before applying the cloth to the wound. "I'm Mitsuko, I run a little flower shop down the road." A response that made Saber raise an eyebrow, silently questioning why the woman knew so much about first-aid. "I went to school to be a nurse, though." She responded, as though reading Saber's mind.

The antiseptic did indeed sting, as Mistuko had cautioned, but it wasn't as bad as some of the wounds Saber had suffered. "Why are you helping me?"

"You're the foreigner who keeps asking around Shinto for work, aren't you?" Mitsuko put away the cloth and took out a needle and some thread. "I guess I just admire your hard-working spirit… You're awfully tough aren't you? You didn't even flinch when I put the hydrogen peroxide on you."

"I've suffered far worse." Saber stated matter-of-factly.

"Yes I can see that." Mitsuko threaded the needle and started stitching the wound closed. "You fought off those thugs without much trouble… current injury aside."

"Who were those people anyway?" Saber asked as she patiently waited for the wound to be closed.

"They call themselves 'The Takeda Family' but it's really just the four of them pretending to be tough yakuzas. Dumb kids go around all over Shinto asking the businesses for protection money. They're lucky the Fujimura family hasn't cracked down on them yet. Well, not that they're going to be much of a threat for a while." Mitsuko ranted for a while about the men as she wrapped Saber's forearm in bandages.

"I see. Thank you so much for your assistance, I think I just need to rest for a while and I should be alright." She tried to stand, but her legs were still wobbly.

"You can rest in the shop for a while." Mitsuko offered Saber her shoulder to lean on. "You know…" She said, after thinking for a moment. "The shop is doing well, however, sometimes in my line of business a pretty face is more useful than experience, and I'm not as pretty as I used to be."

"Why are you bringing this up?" Saber asked politely as the two of them slowly made their way to the shop in question.

"I'm saying the shop could use someone like you. Not only are you hardworking and honest, but truth be told, when people shop for flowers they look for beauty; not just in the product they're buying but also in the person selling them." She laughed. "At the very least it'll stop the Takedas from coming around asking for money."

Together, they entered the shop. Being suddenly encircled by so many gorgeously arranged flowers was oddly calming, and Saber took in the smell delightedly. Mitsuko led her into the back room where there was a small couch awaiting her. "You can rest here for now." The old woman said. "There's water in the mini-fridge, drink all you like, but please don't push yourself."

Saber was rendered nearly speechless by the woman's kindness. "I cannot thank you enough, please, allow me to repay you somehow. You have my word that I will do anything in my power to help."

In response, Mitsuko only smiled. "Just come back here in one week at noon. I'll give you a job interview, but really that's just a formality. For now, I'll get back to work. Call me if you need anything at all." The old woman waved goodbye as she stepped back into the flower shop's main room, leaving Saber to ponder her options. It wasn't long before she drifted off into a peaceful, dreamless sleep as the sweet smell of flowers filled her senses.

Author's Note: As always thank you for reading. I ask that if you have any comments at all, please leave a review. I take them all into consideration, and they're very good at motivating me to write more.


	3. The Surprise

Author's Note: Thank you, everyone for the feedback on the previous chapter. I am shaking with excitement as I publish this chapter, because I know we're one step closer to the meat of the story. I hope you are all feeling as excited as I am as you read. As always, I encourage everyone to share their thoughts or feelings about the story so far in reviews, I am doing my best to take all of your comments into consideration as I write.

The next day, Rin was surprised to find that Saber had slept in for the first time since she moved in. She had skipped breakfast, then gotten up to eat a quick lunch before slipping back into her room to sleep some more. "Are you awake?" Rin knocked on the door to her housemate's room. At this point she was actually starting to get worried, not only was this the first time Saber had spent all day sleeping, but if she didn't feel up to coming along with Rin this evening, all her planning would have gone down the drain.

After a short silence Rin finally heard a quiet. "I'm here." from the other side of the door. "I decided to rest for today, walking around yesterday left me tired."

Rin felt apprehension rise up in her chest as she fiddled with the small box in her pocket nervously. "Well... Shirou said he cooked too much dinner tonight and he wants us to come help with some of it so it doesn't spoil." She said the line she had practiced a dozen times beforehand.

There was a long pause as Saber seemed to consider the offer. "Allow me a moment to get dressed, and I'll be right out." A response that made Rin sigh heavily with relief, as she waited outside her friend's door awkwardly. She tried not to imagine Saber getting dressed, but to no avail.

Before too long, Saber emerged, still looking a bit tired. "Ready." She nodded.

"Are you doing alright?" Rin asked, putting her hand on Saber's shoulder.

Saber shook her head and smiled weakly in an attempt to reassure her friend. "I'm just a little tired, nothing to be worried about."

"Alright." Rin smiled back. "I know this meal will help perk you up some." Just then she noticed something strange. "Isn't it a little warm for long sleeves?"

For some reason that seemed to genuinely catch Saber off-guard. "I just thought these clothes would be nicer for dinner with friends. Forgive me, but my fashion sense is not as developed as yours." She responded, resting her right hand on her opposite forearm nervously.

Rin was convinced she was just being self-conscious about her choice of clothing and decided to let the matter drop. "No, you look great, I just thought you might be too warm. Are you ready to go?"

The walk to Shirou's house was uneventful, but it felt a lot longer this time around. Saber didn't seem to be in much of a talkative mood and Rin's heart was pounding out of her chest the whole way. On the bright side however, the sun had already gone down and the cool breeze was rather refreshing.

Rin stopped outside the threshold to Shirou's yard, pulling out a small booklet from her pocket. "Before we go inside, I want you to have this."

Saber flipped through it a moment, going through each page until eventually ending up on a page with her own picture. "This is a passport." Her face flickered rapidly between surprise and joy, realizing what this gift meant. "Does this mean-?"

"That's right." Rin gave the blonde a wide smile, completing her thought for her. "It took a lot of work but my contacts in the Mage's Association and we got complete documentation for you. Birth certificates, work authorization, living authorization, everything you could possibly need."

"Rin I... I don't know what to say." She turned to look over the lifesaving paper. "Alice Penn?" She asked, after reading the name given on the document.

"Sorry about that, but a name like 'Arturia Pendragon' would probably raise the wrong kind of questions."

"Birthdate is... August 17th?" Once, a few months earlier, Rin had asked Saber when her birthday was. The answer was that she simply didn't know, a fact which struck Rin as awfully sad. "That's..."

Rin opened Shirou's front door, revealing a large group of people waiting for them just past the doorway. "It's today." She announced a triumphant smile.

Behind the door stood Shirou, Taiga, Sakura, and all the friends Saber had made over her relatively brief time in the modern world. They all greeted Saber with a big smile and a cheer of "Happy birthday!" Makidera and Taiga even brought party poppers along with them, which they both happily used because they knew they wouldn't be the ones saddled with cleaning up the confetti.

Saber couldn't help but stare at them all, a stunned smile across her face. "Rin... you didn't have to."

"Of course I did!" Rin rested her arm on Saber's shoulder, walking inside with her. "After all, it's your birthday." She turned and gave "Alice Penn" a knowing wink.

The next few hours passed in a blur. Months of meticulous preparation payed off, and everything went flawlessly. Everyone had gathered in the living room, and spent the time talking and laughing at each others' jokes. "Alright everyone, quiet down!" Taiga announced in a tone remarkably similar to her "teacher voice", as she brought out the cake on a large tray. The dining table was already a crowded by Saber's still-wrapped presents.

The cake was a gorgeous thing, homemade using the combined cooking talents of Shirou and Sakura. On the surface was a hand drawn lion, with a little speech bubble saying "Happy birthday, Saber". All the guests gathered around the table and sang "Happy Birthday", and cheered when Saber managed to blow out all sixteen candles in one breath. Thankfully, no one asked what she wished for.

All the party-goers were eager to see Saber open her presents, and it was quite a haul indeed. There were several envelopes with cash or credit cards from some of the less creative guests. They were a simple and easy gift, but the sentiment was nice. From Taiga, she received a new training sword. Issei got her a handmade Buddhist rosary. He admitted that he wasn't sure whether or not she was religious, but the token would be a good luck charm either way. Sakura handed her a small journal with a cute floral design on the cover, saying "When I have a hard day it always helps me to write it down somewhere."

The last present left of the table was from Shirou. He handed her a small package in plain brown wrapping paper with no adornment other than the words "for Saber" written in black marker. What she found when she unwrapped it was a short picture book, clearly intended for children titled: "King Arthur and the Knights of The Round Table". A few looks of confusion and shrugs were thrown around by several of the party guests who were not "in the know", as they wondered why Shirou would get her such a gift. For a long moment, Saber stared at the cover, seemingly studying the beautifully illustrated image of a man who was supposed to be her. Rin was honestly a little worried that Saber would be offended by this gift somehow, but for the moment her expression was as unreadable as it usually was.

With what looked like trepidation, Saber opened the book and immediately turned to the last page. Instead of being greeted by the scene of a gruesome battle she found a simple page showing King Arthur sitting on his throne, surrounded by his knights, smiling beneath the simple message "for his heroic deeds and pure heart, King Arthur was remembered for all time as the greatest king the world had ever known, and he lived happily ever after."

Saber closed the book and then turned to Shirou with a radiant smile. "Thank you, it is a marvelous gift." She closed the book and gently let it rest on the table.

"Hey! By now the cake should be ready to eat right?" Taiga interrupted, giving the cake a predatory grin. "We don't want to wait too long right?"

"I'll get it, Miss Fujimura." Rin raised her hand as though she were still in class. She walked into the kitchen to grab the knife. "First slice goes to the birthday girl though so you may have to wait." She subtly chastised her teacher, though the wild animal didn't seem to realize it. The first slice revealed that the cake was way beyond professional level, as it looked even more delicious on the inside.

Rin slid the hefty slice onto a paper plate and handed it off to Saber. She raised a forkful of the pastry to her mouth, as the whole crowd silently leaned forward, eager to see her reaction. As soon as she took a single bite her eyes lit up. "This is ice cream!" A reaction that naturally drew a few laughs. She had eaten cake before, of course, and she had eaten ice cream, but an ice cream cake was somehow a completely different experience. Soon, everyone had their piece of the delicious dessert, but no one enjoyed it quite as much as Saber did.

A few more hours had passed, the party was winding down, and most of the guests had already started heading home. The living room was starting to get stuffy, so Rin decided to take a walk. On the open hallway, looking out onto the courtyard she just so happened to come across Saber, sitting with her legs dangling over the edge of the walkway. She didn't turn to look, but instead kept her eyes fixed on the crescent moon hanging above them. Somehow, seeing her under the light of the moon was just as lovely as it was when they first met. She found herself unconsciously reaching for the gift still in her pocket.

"The weather is perfect, isn't it?" Saber asked simply. "I had only ever experienced Fuyuki during the winter before, so it's still a little strange to have it feel so warm."

Rin could only smile in response, taking a seat next to Saber. "Did you enjoy your surprise?"

"Yes, I can't say I've ever had a modern birthday before. I thank you for the opportunity." For some reason, Saber still looked rather tired, a fact that made Rin a little nervous.

"Well, to be honest, the credit for the party idea all goes to Shirou, all I did was get the legal documents ready for you." Rin pointed out. "I'm really glad you enjoyed yourself."

"That doesn't really surprise me." Saber nodded thoughtfully. "You really chose a good man for your partner."

"Then I take it you liked his gift?" Rin tilted her head to the side.

"Of course." She smiled, turning to face Rin. "It was gratifying to me to learn what the people of this era thought of me." For a moment her expression turned serious, and her tone followed suit. "You know, before I met all of you, I was ashamed of my life. How it turned out in the end, but that opinion has since changed." She sighed, as a weight was seemingly lifted off of her chest. "I believe Shirou saved my life, back then... When he confronted Archer. Seeing him fight for his ideals so valiantly, even when faced against the terrible consequences, it made me come to realize the dream I had was a mistake. I had wanted to use the grail to undo my life, and give the title of king to someone else. I no longer feel ashamed. For the first time in what feels like ages, I feel as though I can be proud of the life I lived, and leave my regret behind."

Rin was so touched, she had no idea what to say in response, so she just silently placed her arm around Saber's shoulder, comforting her. They sat together for what felt like a long time, just staring at the moon in silence. She tried so vary hard not to think of the moment as "romantic", but it was hard to feel it was anything else. "Let's go home, shall we?" Rin was the one to finally break the silence. She stood up, offering Saber her hand.


	4. Chapter 4

Saber and Rin finally made it home a little after midnight. "Hey, if you're willing to stay up a bit longer I have another surprise for you." Rin said, walking over to one of the cabinets in the living room and unlocking it. She withdrew a black box with a golden stag's head emblazoned on the front. "I found this with a note from my father a few years ago." She opened the box and pulled forth a single brown bottle, with the same stag's head as the box and the golden number forty written beneath. "The note said I should drink this on my twentieth birthday... but I think now is a good enough occasion to try a little, right?"

Saber smiled in response, and politely took a seat on the couch as Rin set the glasses out on the table in front of them. "I would love to, but I must warn you, I do not believe I can get intoxicated by any amount of alcohol." Rin filled each glass with an equal measure of the deep copper drink.

"That's fine." Rin took her glass and clinked it against Saber's. "We're drinking to celebrate, not to get drunk, so don't worry about it. Cheers!" The pair each took a sip, and each simultaneously realized that they were drinking something incredible. It had a rich, heavy sort of taste that lingered in their mouths long after they swallowed, and left a warm feeling all the way down to their bellies. "This is amazing." Rin stated simply, turning to her friend with a satisfied expression.

Saber nodded in response. "It is far beyond the mead and wine I am used to."

"Did you drink a lot in your time?" Rin asked with a raised eyebrow. Sometimes it was easy for her to forget that despite her appearance, Saber was at least seven years her senior. "I didn't take you for much of a drinker, to be honest, you seem far too serious for that."

"I presided over several celebratory feasts, it was expected of me to have at least a few drinks." Saber gave a response that struck Rin as rather unfair. Even when celebrating, she was still bound by her duty as a king.

"Is that so?" Rin had to focus on not grinding her teeth in frustration, as she drained the rest of her drink. "And what about now? Are you just doing this because you feel like you have to?" Maybe it was the alcohol making her say things she didn't mean, but those thoughts had been nagging her for a long time. It drove her crazy how serious Saber was all the time. She wanted her to finally let go of the past and live for herself for once, but even after all this time it seemed like she never wanted to switch off and relax. "I'm sorry, I probably shouldn't have said that." Rin put the glass down and averted her eyes, abashedly.

She looked up to see Saber pouring them both another drink. "It's alright." To Rin's surprise, she was smiling with a tired face that reminded her of a teacher consoling a crying child. "I understand your frustrations. Know that I truly do enjoy spending time with you here. It's only that sometimes it's hard to forget who I used to be and embrace who I am now."

"I see..." Rin accepted the glass and took another sip. "And who are you now?"

Saber sat quietly for a moment, swirling the drink in her glass thoughtfully. "I cannot say for sure that I know." She stared at her drink with a tired smile. "I suppose that's a part of living a normal life. No one is here to tell me what I must do or where I must go. There is only me. There's so much I still need to learn about myself, but I do know at least one thing." She turned to her friend and smiled, lightly resting a hand on her knee. "I know that I am happy to have the opportunity to stay in this world with you."

The two of them spent several hours drinking and laughing, as the level of whisky in the bottle dropped significantly. They shared stories as Rin got progressively more tipsy, and Saber stayed suspiciously sober. Eventually Rin stood up and stretched, saying: "I'm going to bed." She took the rest of the bottle and put it back in its box, silently promising her father that she'd save the rest for her twentieth birthday.

"Then I shall retire as well." Saber followed suit, and stood next to Rin. "Are you able to walk on your own?"

"I'm fine, I'm fine." Rin waved her hand dismissively. "I didn't even drink that much, I'll be alright." She said, even though she was wavering slightly on her feet. Despite her protesting, Saber insisted on escorting her to her room. When they reached the door to Rin's room, Saber wished her goodnight. However, it was just then that her sleeve retreated just far enough up her arm to reveal the bandages covering her forearm. The cheerful atmosphere evaporated in a moment. "Saber... What happened to your arm?" Rin asked, concern creeping into her voice.

A grimace spread across Saber's face momentarily as her secret was exposed. "I was involved in an... Altercation." She had trouble finding the best words to downplay the importance of her injury. "It was nothing I couldn't handle, you should not trouble yourself over it."

Rin ignored the suggestion to not be worried; instead she undid Saber's sleeve and pulled it back, revealing the full length of the bandages underneath. "Is this why you've been sleeping so much? I knew something was wrong, why didn't you tell me?" She found herself unintentionally raising her voice. "This sort of wound shouldn't even be possible... What sort of weapon caused it, did you get a good look at it?"

Saber thought for a moment, before responding. "It was a large knife, approximately twenty centimeters long, it was rather unremarkable with the exception of a green gemstone set in the pommel."

Rin's eyes widened. "They must have accidentally found a dagger used for magical rituals in a pawn shop somewhere." Rin was too ashamed to admit, however, that the only reason she knew this with such certainty was that she was the one to sell the weapon in the first place. "A-anyway, this is serious." She continued to fret, stumbling over her words. "You must be dangerously low on mana, it's a miracle you've been able to hang on. Why didn't you tell me!?" She shouted, before dropping her voice to a near-whisper to say: "I could have done something to help you." Of course there was one way to help, though Rin tried desperately to wipe the sinful thought from her mind.

Saber could do nothing but stand in silence with her eyes averted as Rin scolded her. "If something were to happen to you..." Rin was so frustrated and angry that tears began to well at the edges of her eyes. "If you were to just leave me like that, I don't know what I'd do." The repressed feelings of the past six months began to spill out. "Listen... there's something I can do to help you get your mana reserves back but you need to trust me."

"Rin yo-" Saber had meant to say "You needn't worry about me." But she was rudely interrupted by Rin's lips pressing against hers. It was a quick and clumsy kiss that tasted like whisky, but somehow as Rin withdrew she was filled with immense satisfaction. On the other hand, Saber looked far from happy. "Rin... I think you had too much to drink after all." The words battered against Rin's ears like lethal weapons. "After all you have Shirou, and you mustn't allow alcohol to make you do something you will regret."

"It's not like that at all!" Rin put her hands on Saber's shoulders. "Listen I," She swallowed hard, knowing that there was no turning back after this. "Saber, I love you, I've been crazy about you since the moment we met, so please... Don't say it's just the drink talking, this is how I've felt for a long time now."

"I see." Saber's face softened. "I did not realize you felt that way about me." She sighed. "In truth, I have felt similarly in recent months, though I do not understand the feelings fully." Rin's heart was pounding so hard she was afraid it might burst. "I think... I think that I consider you as more than a close friend, but I am not sure what this truly means. However-" For a second time, Rin interrupted her with a kiss, she was so ecstatic that Saber felt the same way that she lost whatever cool she still had.

This time, the kiss was far more deliberate. Suddenly wrapping her arm around Saber's waist, Rin stepped forward with such feverish force that Saber was pushed back into Rin's door. At first her body tensed-up in surprise, but after a moment, she relaxed and returned the gesture. After what felt like an eternity, Rin finally pulled away. "You trust me right?" A question to which Saber could only nod warily in response.

Lemon Warning begins here

Rin led the blonde girl by the hand into her room and sat down on the side of the bed, suggesting that Saber do the same. "I'm going to do something that may seem a little crazy." She said, after taking a few moments to consider just how she was going to frame the insane act she was about to perform. "We may not need to do it, but I'm only doing this because I'm worried about you. So please, let me be selfish just this once so I can put my mind at ease." She carefully placed her hand on the topmost buttons of Saber's shirt. "You don't have to do this, though." She stressed that point. "At any time if you just say 'stop' I'll stop." Saber nodded again.

Rin undid the top button, such a simple action felt so much harder when her hands refused to stop shaking. She looked up to Saber, silently asking if what she was doing was okay. So far she had raised no objections. One by one, Rin slowly continued to unfasten the buttons on Saber's shirt. When she finally reached the last one, she turned to check Saber's expression once again. Still no objections, but Rin was shocked to see that Saber looked just as nervous as she was.

Saber accepted the cue and removed her shirt, leaving her in just her blue skirt and a plain white bra. As red started to creep into her cheeks, Saber meekly crossed her arms across her chest in a gesture that was so adorable that Rin found herself blushing as well despite being fully clothed. It was funny, Rin thought, she was the one who took Saber shopping for that very bra so naturally she had seen her wear it before. Somehow, this time it was far more exciting.

Rin carefully placed her hand on Saber's knee, and reached around her back to start unhooking her bra. Every little move she made felt like she was crossing some unseen line that would stain her relationship with Saber forever. Though at this point Rin was afraid of stopping as well; she had come too far to just quit. Besides, somewhere in the back of her head she knew that she had crossed the line already.

With a little cooperation from Saber the piece of underwear fell to the floor. Rin was greeted by a sight that made her wish she had turned the lights on the way in. As it was, she simply saw an angelic blond girl lit only by the moonlight shining in through the window. Somehow even in the faint light, Rin could see her as clearly as though she were glowing. "You're gorgeous." Where the only two words Rin could say.

"You're just saying that." Saber answered with a faint smile. "I'm sure you think my body is unsightly."

Rin shook her head vigorously. "I'm being honest, you're like a doll." Of course in the few months the two of them had lived together Rin had caught a few stray glances of Saber in various states of undress, but she had never really had the luxury of getting a good look up close. "Your figure is great and your skin looks so smooth... I'm honestly a bit envious." Though her tone seemed to convey admiration rather than envy. She scooted over on the bed, getting a bit closer to Saber. "Uh... if you lay down, it'll be easier." She put her arm around the blonde's shoulder and carefully guided her back onto the bed.

"You can stop me at any time..." Rin reminded her, before leaning down and softly pressing her lips against the side of Saber's neck. Saber made a little moan that made Rin smile. It made her a bit more confident to hear that Saber was enjoying herself. She then rested her hand on her friend's outer thigh, slowly stroking it. She wasn't sure if she was imagining it, but she could have sworn she heard Saber's breathing change, ever so slightly. She took that as a good sign.

For a few minutes Rin continued tenderly caressing Saber's thigh, giving her small kisses all along her neck and face. The pair never spoke, but Rin knew well enough to let the sound of the smaller girl's reactions serve as her guide. It was simple enough once she learned what it sounded like when she liked something. Rin couldn't help but laugh quietly to herself. With Shirou, for the first couple of months it was like dealing with some kind of alien. She wasn't sure what exactly she was supposed to do or where to put her hands. On the other hand it was easy to interpret Saber, which she figured was a result of them both being girls. After all, she knew what she liked, so it wasn't too hard to get a good idea of what Saber would like.

"I'm going to start now, okay?" Rin whispered in Saber's ear, slowly sliding her hand up her leg. Inch by inch she glided her hand underneath her partner's skirt, all the while listening intently for the word "stop". To her relief, that dreaded word never came. Before she knew it she found her fingers resting on the thin fabric of Saber's underwear. The slight moisture she could feel through the cloth emboldened her, letting her know that all her foreplay had paid off. That little boost of confidence was all she needed to convince her to let her fingers drift past the waistband and touch Saber directly.

This caused contact caused Saber to let out a quiet gasp as her whole body seemed to go taut. In reply, Rin delicately slid her fingers over her familiar's slit with such skill that, within moments, her whole body relaxed and sunk back into the mattress. After all it was far from her first time touching a woman, the only difference was that this time it was not herself. "Is it ok if I put them inside?" Rin asked, letting a seductive edge onto her tone.

"Y-Yes." Saber stammered out. "Please try to be gentle. I have never..." She was unable to finish the sentence, though Rin understood what she had meant to say. Even in the dim lighting, she could see the blush growing hotter on Saber's face.

Rin nodded quietly, slowly pushing the tip of her index finger against Saber's entrance. She could tell that would be a tight fit, but thankfully her body was already aroused enough to accept the intrusion, albeit slowly. By a wide margin, Rin's favorite part of the experience was seeing Saber's face twist and change in reaction to each little movement she made with her finger. Before long the entire exercise evolved into a process of experimentation, in more way than one. She tried using quick fast strokes before switching to slower more mellow rubs. She tried everything she could think of, and when she saw Saber enjoying something she made a mental note to keep doing it.

Before long Rin noticed Saber's breathing growing increasingly ragged as she started to gyrate her unconsciously along with her partner's fingers. She knew well enough from her own experience that these signs pointed to the fact that she was quickly reaching her goal, and decided it was time for the coup de grâce. Quickly changing tacks to the movement that previously elicited the strongest reaction, she leaned down and gave Saber one more kiss. The other two were far more chaste by comparison, and to Saber's surprise, Rin decided to use her tongue this time, using it to carefully probe into her former friend, now lover's mouth. Saber clearly wasn't sure exactly how to handle this new occurrence, but her mind had long since given way to pure instinct.

All of a sudden, Saber's body sized so rapidity that it took Rin by surprise. She felt the smaller girl tighten around her finger, and every thought she had turned to the beautiful girl in front of her lying in the moonlight, and in that single moment nothing else mattered.

But all moments must come to an end. Rin broke away from the kiss to pull back and admire the sight below her. Saber looked as though she had just run twenty miles, her face was bright red and she was panting fiercely, and somehow she never looked more dazzling. Rin was content to just lie down on the bed next to her, wrapping her arms around her and pulling her close. Soon, the two of them drifted off to a peaceful, dreamless sleep.

Author's Note I won't lie, this chapter was very difficult. It was my first time writing anything like this so it felt like slow going, and I wanted to make sure it was as good as I could get it before posting it, hence the slight delay. As always I encourage reviews, especially so after this chapter in particular. Thanks for everyone for reading so far.


	5. Chapter 5

It was when Saber awoke that she realized she had made a terrible mistake. "Why?" She asked silently, as she carefully disentangled herself from Rin's arms. Walking on the tips of her feet she grabbed her shirt and bra and crept out the door. Only when she was beyond the door and out into the hallway did she breathe a sigh of relief. The clock on the wall told her it was five-thirty, far too late to go back to her own room and sleep. Instead she opted for an early morning bath to wake her up.

"Why did I let myself do something so horrible?" Saber rubbed her eyes as the mental distress took its toll. "She's supposed to be with Shirou, so why?" She leaned back in the bath, resting her head on the edge. "Was it just a momentary lapse of judgment?" Rin and Shirou were her dearest friends, so why would she do something to harm them? She found her thoughts unconsciously drifting towards her erstwhile "wife" Guinevere; wondering if she had ever felt this sort of guilt when she ran away with Lancelot.

"People do foolish things when they're in love." Saber reminded herself, and suddenly her eyes widened in realization. That was why she did something so absurd. She was in love. Somehow, even though she spent her entire life as a man she never imagined she'd love a woman. The oversight was so enormous that it would have been laughable, had it not caused such terrible consequences.

Now that the "why" of the matter was out of the way, what concerned Saber was the "when". "How long have I felt this way, I wonder." She asked herself, resting her water-soaked hand on her forehead. She tried and tried again to think back over the course of her six-month tenure as Rin's familiar, but she could not think of a single catalyzing moment that made her fall for her best friend. The more she thought about it the faster her heart beat, and the redder her face got, and not just from the heat of the water.

Frustration built for every moment the question went unanswered. Saber started thinking back to the moment they first met, admittedly she didn't think much of Rin back then, just thinking of her as an enemy to be defeated. Those first few days, she just seemed like any other magus, cold, calculating, and harsh. However, as time went on Saber got to know the true face behind the magus exterior. Rin liked to talk tough, there was no doubt about that, but it soon became apparent that in reality she was a truly good person; even if she herself didn't fully understand it.

In the end, she was forced to conclude that the was no "when" after all. In stories people always talked about "love at first sight" or someone having a definitive moment that they fell in love, but this time, that couldn't have been further from the truth. It was just a slow, day by day process. Each day Saber grew closer and closer to Rin, so gradually that she didn't even notice when those feelings finally metamorphosed into love.

Saber unplugged the drain and stood up, stretching her back. Regardless of her reasons, she had done something terrible. She knew what she had to do, but by no means did that make it an easy choice. She only hoped that Rin would forgive her.

It was when Rin awoke that she realized she had made a terrible mistake. She rose from the bed unsteadily, still fully clothed. Looking around the room, she noticed that Saber wasn't in room which made her question for a moment whether or not she had dreamed the whole thing. She pinched the bridge of her nose, trying in vain to suppress her throbbing headache. "No, it felt too real." She forced herself out of bed and changed into a fresh set of clothes, all the while dreading the impending outcome of her actions hanging over her head like the Sword of Damocles.

After briefly washing her face in the Bathroom, Rin walked into the living room, even though her feet felt like lead weights. As she expected, she found Saber sitting on the couch, waiting for her. "Good morning, Saber." She said with a quiet nod, taking a seat next to her on the couch. Saber's expression was as unreadable as ever, but it was at least clear that she was very serious. Rin mentally buckled in for a difficult conversation.

"We need to talk." Saber stated the obvious. "But before we begin, I must ask." She fixed her eyes on Rin's so intently that it made her anxious. "Did you truly mean those things you said to me last night?"

"Well, of course." Rin stated simply. "I wouldn't have uh... done any of that stuff." She looked away from Saber's face, nervously.

Rin heard a sigh come from Saber's direction, she couldn't help but think she sounded almost relieved. "Then that leaves the matter of what we will do from here on." Saber continued to speak even though Rin's eyes were averted. "Know that I do not blame you, in fact I feel the responsibility is mine..."

"That's not true!" Rin interrupted Saber, turning to face her with a shout. "Listen if I hadn't pressured you into it, it never would have happened!"

What Rin saw was simply Saber giving her a soft, understanding look. "That may be so, but... I also allowed my emotions to get the better of my judgment. However, it is irrelevant to decide who is at fault. What matters now is how we will handle it."

"You mean, about Shirou, don't you?" Rin asked. She had expected this, but that didn't make it any less nerve-wracking. "I still haven't quite decided on what to do, about it."

Saber merely frowned, clearly displeased by the answer. "It would not be fair to keep it a secret from him." She took a deep breath, seemingly preparing herself to say something. "He is your boyfriend, so I am giving you the option to confess our wrongdoing to him yourself..." Saber wrung her hands together, obviously having trouble getting the words out of her. "However, if you should choose to keep it hidden from him... I will have no choice but to tell him myself."

The words felt like a weight dropping on Rin's head. "I... see." She choked out, bewildered. She knew that she would have to confess her sin eventually, but somehow having an ultimatum only made the pressure worse. "Yeah, you're right." She finally admitted, hanging her head in defeat. "I'll call him and set up somewhere I can meet him and talk with him about it today."

Saber nodded solemnly. "I am sorry, Rin. I know that I am putting you in a difficult position but," She took a moment to carefully think of what exactly she wanted to say. "My conscience would not allow me to keep this a secret."

Rin stumbled down into her basement as if in a daze. Sitting down at her work desk, she buried her head in her hands. All the stress and metabolizing alcohol in her system teamed up and formed the most painful headache Rin had ever experienced, and the basement was the best place to be alone. Three days was all she had to try to decide on just what to tell Shirou. They had just arranged a meeting in three days, and it was all she could do to keep her voice from shaking. "Isn't it just like me?" She withdrew a small box from her pocket and put it on the desk in front of her. "I always mess up the most important thing."

She opened the box and found the last birthday gift right where she left it. The idea for the gift was simple enough, of course. With an official birthday on record, Saber should have been sixteen years and one day old exactly. However, she of course hadn't aged a single day. In the short term it was fine, but over the course of several years, people would no doubt question why the mysterious Alice Penn hadn't changed at all over time. So all Rin had to do was make a charm to solve the problem, and the solution was simple enough. All she had to do was take the wildly popular spell that caused the caster to appear to have not aged and reverse the effect. From there it was just a matter of storing it in a durable enough gemstone, and setting it into a piece of jewelry.

The result was a simple charm that made the wearer appear to age normally. For most people this would be useless, but for someone like Saber, it became invaluable. The flaw in the plan only became apparent to Rin after the charm was completed. The spell was executed perfectly, as she had expected. The spell held fast in the diamond she had pawned a certain magical dagger for, and the gem was set into the golden ring securely.

But when Rin stepped back and looked at it, she discovered that she had made a diamond ring. Whether it was completely accidental, or perhaps subconscious didn't really matter; a diamond ring can only mean one thing when given as a gift. On top of that, it was a special ring that allowed Saber to stay in this world without risking suspicion. In two ways it was a gift that said the same thing in two different ways: "stay with me forever."

Author's Note: As always, thanks to everyone for reading. Unfortunately this chapter is a bit shorter than I would like as I am going on vacation and won't have access to my computer for a while. I figured you'd rather have a shorter chapter now than have to wait a week for a somewhat longer one. Once again, reviews are greatly appreciated and I take them all into full consideration. Hopefully my vacation will not be too much of a disappointment and I hope everyone sticks around. Next chapter will be of the utmost importance.


	6. Chapter 6

The next three days dragged on like torture. Rin was far from in the mood to leave the house, and for some reason Saber had temporarily halted her job search which left the two of them alone in the big house with nothing to do. Conversation between the two of them was limited to awkward "good mornings" and "good nights" with the gaps between them separated by their desperate attempts to stay away from each other. This led to a bizarre game of mutual hide-and-seek, where neither party wished to be found.

On the promised day, Rin felt like a prisoner on her way to be executed; everything she did to prepare for the "date" felt like another step towards the gallows. She washed her face, put on nice clothes, and pulled on her shoes all while her subconscious was screaming for her to go and hide in bed. As she turned to open the door she was stopped by Saber's voice. "Are you going?" She asked, as if she didn't already know. Rin could only nod solemnly in response. "I am sorry to put you through this." Her voice was strained as she turned her head away, giving the impression of a guilty criminal. "But this is something we both must suffer this for our... For our mistake."

Rin stepped forward, seemingly drawn by some unseen force. She wrapped her arms gently around Saber's shoulders, pulling her close. "I could never hate you." She said, fighting back tears. "I know it's wrong, but I can't help it. I still love you, Saber. Nothing could ever happen to change that." To her surprise her sudden gesture was returned as her lover returned the embrace in silence. "You can't blame yourself for this ok? I acted selfishly and I'm the one to blame, so I'm the one who's going to make it right." She wanted to just keep holding her and tell her everything would be all right, but such an assurance would be made dishonestly. More than anything, she wished she could just give Saber a simple kiss on the cheek to comfort her, but she knew that it would only make her job that much harder.

More and more Rin came to realize that she was trapped in an unwinnable catch-22 situation. If she confessed, she'd no doubt lose Shirou. If she didn't she'd lose Saber, and then Saber would confess and she'd lose Shirou as well. In the back of her mind the old English idiom about having one's cake and eating it too rang true. Even though it was selfish, she didn't want to lose either one of them. Unfortunately she couldn't even hate Saber for putting her in such a difficult position, even though it would have made things so much easier. Her hands and feet were bound with chain and she was slowly sinking to the bottom of the ocean.

Their time was up. Rin reluctantly broke away from the hug, noon was approaching and she would be expected at the cafe soon. She turned to the door, trying desperately not to look at Saber's face; seeing it would make this so much harder. "I'm going out." If she said anything more than that simple phrase, she would have broken down. Shutting the door behind her, she caught just a glimpse of Saber's distraught face through the crack. Just a peek was all it took to shatter her heart.

Somehow Rin managed to make it to the cafe without shedding any tears. She walked to their customary table with leaden feet and found her boyfriend sitting cheerfully as though nothing had happened. "Yo, Tohsaka. Did Saber enjoy her party?" She quietly nodded and ordered her a cup of tea from the waitress. "Are you feeling ok? You look a little sick."

What followed was a painful few minutes of quiet. Shirou was always a quiet eater, so he didn't seem to mind if Rin wasn't feeling up for a conversation. Finally when she gathered her nerves she put down her teacup and said, "I think you should break up with me."

His neutral expression changed to one of confusion. "What do you mean by that? You want me to break up with you? Or are you saying you want to break up with me?"

"What I'm saying is..." Every word resisted Rin's efforts to speak them. "I'm saying I've been a terrible girlfriend and you deserve better." The sentence left an ashy, dry taste in her mouth after she said it.

"Well..." Shirou put down his food. "I haven't really noticed anything wrong. You've been the same as always, Tohsaka. That's how I like you." He gave her that same gentle smile he always gave when he was trying to be reassuring.

Somehow it only made Rin feel worse. "No, you don't understand." She shook her head. "I..." Her mouth tried its hardest to stop her. It was as though every little syllable had to be dragged from her by force. "I cheated on you."

"I see." Was all Shirou said as his smile turned to concern. The silence between them was conveniently filled by the chatter of the resturant's other patrons. Finally he continued his questioning. "Will you tell me who it was?" Rin didn't detect much anger in his voice, only concern and confusion. However, she had no doubt that he would be raising his tone in anger soon enough.

"It was Saber." After the initial confession, it was suddenly much easier to deal with the follow-up questions. The damage was already done, what harm will a few scratches do on a dead body? "After the party we went home and I drank some alcohol... I saw she got hurt somewhere. That's when it happened." She wisely decided it didn't need any further detail. "I said it was just to restore her mana, but that was just an excuse."

Shirou looked surprised either by the fact that his girlfriend apparently swung both ways or by the fact that his best friend was involved as well. Still the anger didn't come as Rin expected it to. "Can I ask one more question?" He quietly waited for her affirmation before continuing. "Do you love Saber?"

Once again Rin's tongue tried to give up and quit. She sat silently hanging her head, she found herself unable to say the simple three-letter word. Biting her lip so hard that she was drew blood, she forced herself to finally say "Yes."

Rin kept her face averted, as though trying to run away from the impending shouting. "Do you still love me then?" Was all she heard from Shirou instead.

"Of course I do!" Rin, turned to face him once again, raising her voice for the first time in days. "Listen I relly do but... I don't understand it, it's complicated. I love you both, I know it's bad, but I can't help how I feel."

Shirou rubbed his face thoughtfully as he took a long minute to think the whole situation over and put together what he wanted to say. "Well... I'm a bit upset that you hid it from me." Rin gritted her teeth, trying her hardest to stop herself from averting her face in shame. She thought for sure this would be the part where he finally dumped her. "However... I'm not really all that mad at you for it."

"What?" Rin's tense face dropped immediately into a look of utter befuddlement. For a moment she questioned whether or not she had misheard him; tilting her head to the side as if to pour out whatever got jammed in her ear. "What did you say?"

Shirou shook his head. "I'm not mad at you, it's ok." He picked his drink up as if nothing at all was wrong.

"Are you kidding me?!" Rin shouted, standing upright from her chair and slamming her open palms against the table. "What do you mean you're not mad? Yell at me, raise your voice, do something!" She continued her verbal assault. The rest of the restaurant had fallen silent, eagerly eavesdropping on the erupting argument. No doubt they were wondering just what this poor sucker had done to earn such a tongue-lashing. "Why do you have to be so damn understanding?"

Shirou just kept looking at her, hopelessly confused. "I don't get what you're yelling for, do you want me to get mad at you or something?"

"Well no but..." Rin looked around the room, and lowered her voice again Somehow she managed to bring her temper back under control. "I just feel like I deserve it."

"I see." Shirou's face finally changed from confusion into something that looked like sympathy. "Why don't we go outside?" He looked around at the gawkers surrounding them. "So we can talk privately." He put the cash for their meal on the table and took Rin's hand, leading her to the exit.

Shirou led the way to an empty bench in the park. Even after all this time, people had a natural tendency to avoid the park. This time it worked in their advantage, even if it left them with an ominous feeling hanging over their head. "Now then..." He began. "Why do you think I should be mad at you?"

Rin tilted her head in confusion. "Didn't you hear me when you said that I had cheated on you?" For some reason, even after she came out and said it, it still hurt her to confess the same thing over again.

"I did," Her boyfriend nodded. "But considering the circumstances... It's not really something I should be that mad about, right?"

"If you mean the thing about me doing it to give her mana, that was really just an excuse." Rin stared at her feet, guiltily. "The truth is, I knew she would recover the mana on her own, it would just take time. In the end I only did it because I wanted to."

"That's not what I meant." He shook his head. "You said you love her, I know you're not the kind of person to lie about that sort of thing, Tohsaka." His voice sounded warm. "You said I should break up with you, but if you really feel that way, I don't think I have a good reason to." Rin looked at him as though he had grown a second head, and she was too stunned to respond. "Besides, if it's Saber then there's no way I can be mad."

Shirou showed a wistful, happy expression and looked up at the sky as if recalling a fond memory. "You asked me a few days ago what I thought of Saber. Well I thought about it a little more since then, and I realized something. She saved me in more than one way, I think. Back when I confronted Archer, she was right there with me. Even when it was at its worst, she believed in me... believed in my dream. If she hadn't been there, there's no telling what I might have done." He turned to Rin, offering her a heartfelt grin. "If anything I'm happy she found someone she can love too."

Rin didn't know whether to laugh or cry, but before too long her body decided on the latter for her. She wiped her eyes with a sleeve and mumbled. "You idiots really are too similar." Standing up, she tugged on Shirou's arm, pulling him to his feet. "Come on, you're coming with me."

"Wait what's wrong?" He staggered up, surprised by the sudden pulling. "Coming with you where?"

Rin smiled for the first time in days. "Back to my place. We're going to go talk to Saber about what we're going to go do tomorrow."

"That's fine and all, but..." He continued to follow along dutifully. "What exactly do you think we're doing tomorrow? Do you have something in mind?"

Rin walked with a confidence in her step once again. Now that the dark cloud over her head had dissipated, it felt like the color had returned to her world. "We're going out."

"Not that I'm complaining but didn't we just go out today?" He laughed nervously. "And when you say 'we' you mean...?"

"You, me... and Saber of course."

 

Author's Note: Finally back from vacation, sorry I had to leave you guys hanging on a cliffhanger like that for a week. As always, please leave any comments or reviews you may have. I'm hit with a bit of after-travel sickness so I feel like there may be grammatical errors in here somewhere, so bear with me.


	7. The Plan

It was five in the morning, and once again Rin was having trouble sleeping. Over the past few months she had developed a quite a pervasive case of insomnia for various reasons, but this time it wasn't out of anxiety or worry. This time she was excited. Rolling out of bed she found it a little strange that she felt wide awake. “Must be adrenaline.” She told herself.

First, Rin went to the dresser and swiftly withdrew all the pieces of her outfit. It was easy enough to pick them out, after all she had already decided on what to wear when she should have been sleeping. The first stop was the shopping mall Verde; she didn't really plan on buying much, but it would be fun to goof off for a while. Then, stopping somewhere for a small snack. Next they'd go through the aquarium, if for nothing else to get out of the heat for a little while. Then the plan was to eat a quick lunch and then finally to return home. By far the last step would be the riskiest, but if she managed to pull it off just right all the doubts and worries that had accumulated over the past half-year would vanish.

With the itinerary well memorized, Rin crept down the hallway to the bathroom, taking care not to wake Saber. After washing her face she delicately applied a bit of makeup, wanting to make sure she would look her absolute best. Now fully dressed and ready, she practically floated into the living room. She had planned on patiently waiting on the couch for Saber to wake up. However, once again Saber had managed to beat her to the punch.

“Good morning, Rin.” Saber said plainly as though there was nothing unusual or exceptional about that particular morning. “I see you didn't sleep well.” She paused before adding, “Does that mean you're thinking about canceling our plans for today?” She sounded so nervous she almost stuttered. It made Rin smile a bit to see that even Saber got anxious for relationship matters. 

“No, I'm not feeling tired, I was just excited for today.” Rin gave her best reassuring grin. “I'm sure everything will be fine.” Words meant to calm herself as well as Saber.

“Excited?” Saber tilted her head with a confused look. It finally hit Rin that Saber wasn't thinking of this as a date, she just considered their outing as a sort of peace-offering, trying to return the relationship between the three of them back to normalcy.

Rin sat down next to Saber on the couch, placing her arm around her friend's shoulder. “Of course I am, I've been wanting to go on a date with you both. It's been a while hasn't it?” Saber just keep looking on in polite bewilderment, clearly unsure what exactly Rin was trying to say. “It was during the grail war, remember? I took Shirou out on our first date, and you were there too.” The blonde girl nodded quietly, of course she would remember. “To be honest I always thought of it as my first date with you as well.” She felt the blood rush to her face as she said it, but it was nice to finally get it off her chest.

Saber looked surprised, but not unhappy, just as Rin had hoped she would. “Are you saying you wish to pursue us both?”

Rin had always took pride in her ability to argue her point and win over others, now it was time to put that to the test. “Is that bad?” She took a flippant tone to try and convince Saber that it was no big deal. “I know it's not really traditional but, I really love the two of you.” She pulled her familiar closer in a sort of half-hug gesture. “And Shirou says he doesn't mind, so there's no problem. Personally I hope we can all get along, don't you?” 

“I suppose that's true, however...” Saber seemed to be slowly come to accept the situation, but her face remained clouded. “It just feels as though we are doing something unacceptable.”

Rin poked Saber in the cheek, teasingly. “You worry too much, you know.” This time instead of trying to be convincing, she was just trying to cheer up her friend. “Shirou said he doesn't mind. In fact, he seemed supportive.” Reaching out her hand she said, “We're meeting him in a few hours, so we still have some time before then. Want to grab some breakfast, just the two of us, first?” Saber smiled and took her hand.

 

“Come on, hurry up!” Rin excitedly dragged her new followers along. She had a busy day planned, and she wanted to make the most out of it. The three of them had just left Verde, and stepped out once more into the oppressive sun. So far things were going well, even if Shirou and Saber both seemed to feel a little awkward about the whole situation. Because of this, Rin felt compelled to be the outgoing and fun member of the party, which certainly made her feel nostalgic for a certain day eight months ago. However, the more time passed the more she felt as if something was missing. She couldn't put her finger on it, but it was starting to get on her nerves. 

“Hey, Tohsaka, you don't have to pull!” Shirou rubbed his sore shoulder while giving Saber a glance, as though silently apologizing for his girlfriend's unruly behavior. “Isn't Saber still not feeling well? We're in no rush so let's take it easy.” As always he put others before himself. It still drove Rin crazy sometimes, but she had to admit it was part of his charm. “Didn't you say we'd take a snack break soon? Let's just take a break for a while.”

Neither of the girls wanted to admit that after their “dalliance” a few nights ago Saber felt right as rain. “No, I am feeling alright.” Saber almost tripped over her words. “Please do not worry about me.” Rin smiled as she noticed a blush creep into the blonde girl's face. “Though I would not object to a quick food break.”

Rin laughed quietly to herself, leading them to a small ice cream stand that boasted one hundred and one flavors. Rin and Shirou decided on chocolate and vanilla, respectively. However, Saber took a longer look at the list and finally decided on the non-traditional lavender flavor. The group then sat in the shade and enjoyed their treat while they made small-talk about meaningless things. As usual, Rin noticed that Saber liked to just sit quietly rather than talk, so she had to make sure to go out of her way to engage the familiar. It was difficult to juggle conversation between her two partners, but Rin Tohsaka was never one to back down from a challenge. 

When the party had all finished, they stood and began walking towards the aquarium. “Oh, hold on, Saber.” Shirou tapped Saber on the shoulder and pointed to her face. “You've got some purple on you.” Smiling, he reached out and wiped a bit of melted ice cream from her cheek as Saber thanked him. Rin found it terribly adorable, but once again she was assailed by the sense that she was lacking something. As though she had forgotten to do something. 

It was at that moment, however that Rin's thoughts were interrupted. “If I may make a request.” Saber raised her hand as if she were in a classroom. “We are passing the batting cages soon. Rin, might I suggest we forego the aquarium and visit there instead?” Rin didn't really have anything against the idea, in fact it seemed more fun the aquarium. After all she had only planned on it, assuming it would be a hot day. Thankfully the weather was mild, so the batting cages sounded far more interesting.

 

“Hey Tohsaka,” Shirou sounded concerned. “Isn't she a little too good at this?” Both he and Rin had spent the past eight minutes watching their mutual friend knock ball after ball out of the park at the batting machine's maximum setting. The cages just so happened to be a bit busy on that certain day. As luck would have it, they would all get a ten minute time period to hit as many balls as they could, just not all at the same time. This left the two remaining contestants to sit and watch as they awaited their turn. “Last time she kept getting foul balls.”

Saber returned to the two when her turn was up, removing her helmet with a satisfied smile. “That was a fine bout of exercise.” When she noticed how the other two were staring at her she explained, “Sometimes when I had no more business to conduct in town I would go practice here.” Her blush and nervous expression told them that she practiced more often that she was letting on.

“Shouldn't you be taking it a bit easier?” Rin gave her a look of concern. “If you go all out again you might run out of energy again.”

Saber just shook her head. “Do not worry about that. I have long since learned that hitting is not all about physical strength. I just need to mentally account for the speed and trajectory and combine it with the force of gravity. Then there is the simple matter of hitting the ball in the correct place with the correct area of the bat.” Her friends simply stared at her, wondering just how much practice it took to convert a sport into a science.

Rin laughed it off and took her turn at bat. Over the six month interim period she really hadn't improved all that much, but that didn't really bother her. Really, in the end she was just glad that her friends were having fun. When her ten minutes were up she left the cage and turned to find Shirou and Saber casually smiling and chatting freely. It was then that she finally realized what it was she had been missing. It was jealousy. Even though her boyfriend was flirting with the girl she had fallen in love with, she didn't even feel an ounce of jealousy. The sudden realization nearly made her burst out in laughter. Instead she merely smiled. Now that they had all taken their turns it was time for them to go get lunch. “Shall we?”

“Yes, but may I ask where we are going, Rin?” Saber asked with a hint of eagerness. 

Rin had intentionally left both of her partners in the dark for this phase of her plan, as it was the most important and required the element of surprise. “Well... We're all going back to my place, I have something special planned.” She tried to keep herself from blushing.

Authors Note: As always, thank you for reading. Next week should be another big chapter, so it may take a bit more time. I appreciate your patience.


	8. Checkmate

On the way home, Rin once again noticed just how much people stared at them as they went around town together. Over time, people in Shinto had gotten used to seeing Saber wandering around the city, but even so seeing her with another attractive young woman was enough to turn heads. Shirou seemed a bit bothered by it, but at the very least no one was paying him in particular much attention. Occasional looks of envy excluded, of course. Rin grinned wickedly, after all she was the one people should be envious over, her boyfriend was just along for the ride.

Somewhere along the way the were unexpectedly stopped by an old woman in front of a flower shop. "Oh, good afternoon Ms. Saber." she smiled genially. "Or is it alright if I call you Ms. Penn instead?"

Shirou and Rin gave her a quick confused glance, wondering why anyone would be using Saber's "official" name. "Is this a friend of yours?" Shirou asked.

"It is somewhat of a long story, but this Mrs. Mistuko, she's going to be giving me a job interview in a few days." Saber smiled bashfully. Apparently she had been hoping to keep this under wraps until it was certain. "I sent the proper documents to her the other day." She explained.

"Well, the interview is just a formality, provided she doesn't do anything terrible she has the job." The old woman laughed. "Are you all out celebrating her new job?"

"Well..." Rin hesitated for a moment, trying to think of the best way to explain. "We were having a bit of a fight, but it all worked out in the end I think."

Mitsuko grinned. "My my, I still remember how it is to be young. Here, take these as a welcoming gift." She took a few pink flowers from the display and handed them to Saber. "They're peonies, in the secret language of flowers they represent bravery, you know? So they're perfect for you, right Saber? Well... I'll expect you to learn all about that sort of thing if you're going to be working for me."

Saber accepted the gift with a smiling nod. "Thank you very much, but isn't a gift like this too much for just a job interview?"

"Don't worry about it." The florist waved her hand in front of her face in a dismissive gesture. "I'll just take it out of your first paycheck." She laughed in such a way that no one was sure whether or not she was kidding.

\---

"Wow!" Saber and Shirou echoed in unison as they viewed the spread of food waiting for them on Rin's kitchen table. She had spent a good amount of time the night before preparing it; she was just lucky that Saber didn't find it when she woke up in the morning. The food was a bit hastily put together, after all it was made out of whatever ingredients she had at the time but it was clear that Rin put her whole heart into making it. It was all tied together by a handful of peonies in a vase placed in the center of the table as a centerpiece.

The trio happily scarfed down the lunch amidst Rin's teasing, Shirou's protests to said teasing and Saber's quiet munching. At that rate, the food never stood a chance. Somewhere deep down, something told Rin that this was how things were meant to be. "So, was it good?" Rin asked when it was all gone, already knowing the answer. No one would say it out loud, but everyone knew that she had even outdone Shirou.

"It was marvelous, Rin, you outdid yourself." Saber replied with eyes so bright, Rin wanted to wear sunglasses.

Shirou nodded with a smile, agreeing with Saber. "I think it's the best thing you've made so far, I could really tell you put a lot of thought into it. But," He scratched the back of his head with a confused look on his face. "It sorta feels like you're planning something." Rin kept her face neutral but mentally cursed. He may have seemed dull sometimes but he had moments of sharpness that worried her.

"Well..." It was now or never, Rin thought. With her heart pounding so hard she felt it would burst she stepped closer to her boyfriend, casually resting her hand on his shoulder. "I was thinking of heading to bed early after this." She said in her best provocative voice.

"You're tired?" Never mind, he really was dull.

Rin gritted her teeth and suppressed the urge to slap him silly. "No I mean... you should come with me." She reached out and took Saber's hand, trying as hard as she could to appear casual. Despite her best efforts her face burned red.

"That's fine but," Shirou blushed as well, nervously raising his hand in inquiry. "Why are you holding Saber's hand?"

"I..." Rin's voice faltered as both of her friends stared at her in bewilderment. "Just shut up and follow me." Sometimes persuasion just wasn't an option. In these situations she had to resort to force to get her point across. There was no turning back. With shaking legs she led them by the hand to her room. She guided Saber gently to the chair in the corner of the room before sitting on the edge of her bed, facing Shirou. After sitting quietly for a moment she finally got tired of his baffled staring and said "Well... are you going to start or what?" She could feel her ears burning as she asked.

"It's not that I mind but, but why did you bring her?" Her boyfriend looked at Saber nervously. Rin noticed his face was turning red as well, and obviously for a good reason.

"Listen," Rin took on an air of confidence she didn't truly have. "You said you were alright with me and Saber staying together, and she's fine with me and you staying together so," She took a deep breath, gathering courage. "If she's going to be my girlfriend I want her to be involved with us too." Somehow she managed to avoid tripping over the critical word. It felt funny to say, but as soon as it left her mouth she felt a wave of happiness wash over her. "Girlfriend"; just saying it made it feel real. "It's only fair, right?" The argument was a delicate mixture of sophistry and her own honest feelings, but it seemed to be having an effect.

Shirou's entire head seemed to turn bright pink as he looked away in embarrassment. "Maybe it's fair but..." He wracked his brain for excuses. "What about Saber? There's no way she's comfortable with this, right?" Turning to Saber for confirmation, he looked for an ally against his mortal enemy. His would-be ally just sat, quietly thinking. "Hey, aren't you going to say you're not alright with it?"

Saber shuffled awkwardly in the chair, clearing her throat quietly. "I do not particularly mind. Rin is correct that this is a necessary step for me to better understand your... our relationship."

Shirou stepped back in surprise, as though her words had physically struck him. He tried several times to start a sentence protesting, but his words all got tangled up in his mouth and came out as stuttering gibberish. Finally he composed himself slightly and said "Won't it be embarrassing for you? You know that Tohsaka and I are going to... well." He blushed and stared at the ground. All the while Rin just stared at the argument and tried her hardest not to laugh.

Saber, on the other hand kept herself relatively composed. Her face was red, but she managed to keep a calm expression. "Rin is correct, it is a matter of fairness." Rin wasn't sure but she could have sworn she saw a glint of curiosity in Saber's eyes.

The whole scenario was too much for Rin and she finally burst out laughing. "I guess I should have expected you to have some performance anxiety, Shirou." She saw an opening and let her instinct to tease take over. "Though I do feel sorry for Saber... You hear that, Saber? Shirou says he doesn't like having you around."

"You know that's not true!" The target of the taunting fired back. "I just think it'll be too awkward for me." His voice quieted, as though he were afraid someone might listen in.

Finally, Rin took pity on him. "Look, just lay down like this here." She gently guided with an exasperated voice to lay flat on the bed so that he was facing away from Saber. "If you stay like this you won't see her and just pretend she's not here." Still not convinced, he began to complain, which made his girlfriend finally run out of patience. "Just shut up already, everything will be fine!" Thankfully this was sufficient to keep him from interrupting her any further.

Rin got up on the bed, kneeling next to Shirou. "Here goes." Slowly she ran her hand along his thigh, giving Saber a reassuring look. Whether the glance was meant to bolster Saber's confidence or her own was anyone's guess. Her girlfriend smiled back at her with a red face, which she took as a sign to keep going. Undoing his pants she found a surprise. "Oh wow, for all your complaining you sure look ready."

"Shut up." He started to look like a little kid who was pouting after being scolded. "I'm a guy so it's a perfectly normal reaction." Rin just smiled at him, thinking about how he was the same as always.

"Yes yes, I know. You really should learn to go with the flow more or Saber will think you're a difficult person." Rin kept going, pulling down his underwear along with his pants. Apparently being reminded of Saber's presence was enough to keep him quiet. With a glance at Saber, she confirmed the blonde was watching the scene with her characteristic intensity. In truth it was a little intimidating, but Rin didn't want to be the one to back down after giving Shirou a hard time for being nervous. She took him in her hand and gave him a few soft strokes. He really was ready, and to be honest so was she, but she wanted to give Saber a show.

Leaning down Rin gave Shirou's member a light kiss, looking up to give Saber a wink as she did so. Seeing her shocked face was enough to push Rin to take it even further. She took the tip of his head into her mouth, slowly and deliberately, all the while never breaking eye contact with the golden haired Servant. Shirou's body jerked up in surprise at the sensation. It had been a while but Rin had slowly grown to appreciate the act over the course of their relationship. At first she thought it was weird and gross, but she soon learned that it gave her a degree of control she didn't have otherwise. Usually she just let him take the reins, but like this she could set the pace any way she liked.

Once they were both properly warmed up Rin began to undress, but she hesitated. It suddenly occurred to her that Saber had never seen her naked, and was struck by a wave of self-consciousness. She put her shirt back down and instead got up to remove her underwear, leaving the skirt on to obscure the view. "Are you not going to undress, Rin?" Saber asked. She wasn't sure but Rin could have sworn she heard disappointment in her voice.

"No!" Rin stuttered out without thinking. "It's normal for people to keep their clothes on sometimes." It was a bold-faced lie, of course. Most of the time she would have gotten undressed, although with a bit of nervousness. "Look I don't need to take my clothes off for this." She straddled her hips over her boyfriend's waist. "See? Like this." She eased her hips down, aligning Shirou with her entrance with her hand. She flinched a bit as the foreign body invaded her, but it was nothing she wasn't used to so she put on a seductive face for Saber.

Shirou took this as his cue and put his hands around Rin's waist as she eased her hips back and forth. As their motions gained momentum the room began to be filled by quiet sounds of their motions, and the smell of sex. All the while Saber watched them intently with wide eyes, subconsciously her hands had wandered past her waist. She rubbed herself through her underwear almost in a daze. Rin found it so adorable that it excited her more and more. She started to exaggerate her own reactions; making louder moans, and increasingly pleasured faces. This served to further fuel Saber's fire, driving her to be more bold. The two began to mirror each other, Rin bounced up and down forcefully, her acted lust becoming real; while Saber pushed herself to climax, watching the scene unfolding in front of her.

Rin's body lost energy as warmth filled her, and she collapsed on top of Shirou with a satisfied grin. The three collectively caught the breath, each one panting heavily in the room that seemed to have risen five degrees. Finally, Rin got up and sauntered over to the still-incapacitated Saber as something trickled down her thigh. She gently took Saber's face in her hand and gave her one more passionate kiss.

Author's Note: This one was pretty difficult, I'll be honest. I've never written a hetero sex scene, and to be honest I'm not all that into this sort of thing (being a lesbian) so I felt especially uncomfortable. But I tried my hardest to keep the story on course, which is what really matters. As always, thank you everyone for reading, and please leave a review on this chapter especially, I feel like this is an area in which I must improve.


	9. Chapter 9

Today had to be the day, Rin had finally decided. Saber would be gone at work all day, giving her plenty of time to mentally prepare. It had been nearly a month since the trio had worked out their relationship issues and begun their unusual situation. So far things had been going suspiciously well. Saber got along with Rin who got along with Shirou who got along with Saber, and everyone was satisfied. After the six months spent agonizing over the situation, she felt as though things would fall down around her head, or as though she might wake up from the dream.

There was just one final hurdle. That damned ring. Rin had to get it to Saber sooner rather than later, after all people were bound to eventually catch on to the fact that Saber never aged a day. Unfortunately she had no other gems durable enough or with a crystalline structure suitable enough for the spell. It had to be the diamond, and resetting it in another piece of jewelry would undo all the work she had put into it. She just had to grin and bear it for better or for worse.

Rin sat in the living room, staring out the window looking for a flash of gold. With nothing to do all day as Saber was off working, Rin was left to stew in her thoughts, and with a gift like that waiting to be given there were a lot of thoughts to get lost in. Thoughts about the future were chief among them. "What am I going to do after this?" Part of her wanted to reveal the true nature of her relationship with Saber to her closest friends, but as much as it pained her she knew it was probably not a good idea. Ayako might understand, but others like Taiga might paint the trio's situation as something perverse. Granted, it might be easier than she would have liked to see it that way.

After deciding to keep it quiet, Rin wondered about where to take things after graduation. Before the Grail War, she never doubted that she'd one day attend the Clock Tower and begin her career as a magus in earnest, but with such a powerful familiar (though she hesitated to use the term now) her capacity was somewhat limited. She had no doubts that she'd still be able to accomplish quite a bit with her level of talent. "Besides," She said aloud to no one in particular, as if making a declaration. "If that's the price I have to pay for Saber, then I pay it gladly."

It was long after the sun had gone down that out of the corner of her eye, Rin saw that familiar yellow hair, and she sprung to her feet. Hand resting on the box in her pocket as she walked to the front entrance. "Now or never." She kept telling herself, knowing well enough that there would be other opportunities and that it could likely wait another year at most. However, the urge to give the gift and see Saber smile as a result was far more important to her. As soon as she heard the front door open she sprung into action. "Welcome back Saber!" She pushed the precious box in front of her with both hands, bowing her head low. Stunned silence was all she heard for what felt like a particularly long minute. Just when Rin was about to look up and see what was the matter, she heard Saber begin to laugh.

"It seems we were thinking similarly, Rin." Raising her eyes, Rin saw that Saber was carrying along a beautifully arranged bouquet of red roses. Somehow her brilliant smile shone brighter than the flowers. "I got paid today," She explained. "And I decided it would be best to spend some of it on a present for you." Her face turned red. "You're my lover, after all." Rin smiled, stiffing a laugh at Saber's choice of language. "What is this, by the way?" Saber quickly changed the subject, carefully placing the bouquet on the accent table by the door and taking the ring's box in her hand. She turned it over once before asking, "May I open it?"

Rin nodded quietly as she tried not to let the rising nervousness in her chest show. Saber slowly opened the box. As her eyes widened as they caught a glimpse of the diamond's brightness. "Don't get the wrong idea!" Rin stammered out. "It's a magical charm I made, and I needed the diamond to get it to work in the long term. It'll make it look like you're aging." She explained. "Over the next few months, if you keep wearing this, it'll make it look like you've aged two years. Then it will slow to a normal rate." Her speech became a bit quicker, as she excitedly imagined what an older Saber would look like. "It should be perfectly in accordance with the age listed on your documents."

"You made this?" Saber said with wonder in her voice, apparently having ignored all the magical theory talk. She carefully examined the ring, staring at every detail with admiration.

"Well yes..." Rin replied, trying to hide the mild disappointment in having her magical lecture ignored. "Crafting magic charms is an important part in magus training."

"It's incredible." Saber slipped the gold band over her finger. Rin breathed a sigh of relief to see that it was a perfect fit. "And you are saying that I will appear older soon?" She smiled faintly. "I must say that I had always given up hope of seeing myself grow any further... but I have always been somewhat curious as to how I would appear."

Rin nodded with a grin, she was glad that Saber was looking forward to it. "By Christmas, you'll look about two years older."

"I..." Saber's voice faltered. "I do not know how to express my gratitude, this gift is marvelous." Reaching out, to grasp Rin's hand in her own, she said. "Please come with me." After a few moments it became clear that Saber was leading her to their bathroom. Rin, of course wondered what exactly her girlfriend was planning. "It's late, and I am somewhat tired from a hard day's work. I was hoping I could take a bath." The young magus nodded, quickly working out what it was that Saber wanted. "I am told that often women of this country bathe together as a sort of bonding exercise... and I was thinking we should give it a try." She asked, anxiously.

Rin smiled wryly, she had known Saber was up to something. Frankly she would have went along with it if she had asked directly, but she decided to play along. "That sounds like fun." She nodded in agreement. "Would you like to go shower first or should I?" Of course, Rin knew what the answer was going to be, she just decided to play dumb; knowing it would be more satisfying to hear Saber say it directly.

"Well..." Saber took a deep breath, and then another, and finally said, "The shower is spacious enough, I was hoping we could both go together." There were times when Rin was thankful that her family's mansion had a singularly roomy, western-styled bathroom, and this was definitely one of them. If they wanted to, they could easily stand side by side, comfortably in the shower or sit next to each other in the bath.

"After you then." Rin opened the door and ushered Saber inside. For a moment they both stood in the dressing room, neither one willing to be the first one to undress. A silent look passed between them, and silently they both agreed to start simultaneously. Turning their backs to one another they both slowly shed their clothing, throwing each piece into the laundry hamper.

"Are you finished?" Saber unsteadily asked. "Shall we turn around on the count of three then?" Rin quietly agreed. It occurred to her that this would be the first time that Saber would see her naked, the thought both embarrassed and excited her. Saber slowly counted up to the appointed number, and at the signal, each party stiffly turned around as though they were duelists.

Rin was about to cover herself with her hands but she was stopped in her tracks by the sight of the girl in front of her. All the embarrassment and anxiousness was wiped from her mind as she stood astonished, staring at Saber. Now that she thought about it, this was the first time she saw this in proper lighting. Something told her, however that this feeling would never fade, no matter how many times she saw it. The golden-haired girl had a thin, athletic body with no excess fat; skin as smooth as porcelain, and just the faintest wisps of hair that betrayed her body's true age. What really surprised her was the fact that Saber was giving her the same look of wonder in return. "You are beautiful, Rin." Were the only words she said and needed to say.

Rin stepped forward, forgetting her previous shyness, and put her arms around Saber's shoulders; pulling her into a hug. "Let's go shower shall we?"

At first it was more than a little awkward for the two of them, just standing in the glass-encased shower side by side. Both of them kept their eyes straight forward, neither daring to peek at their partner. "Say..." Rin started, trying to break the tension. "How about I wash your back?" Saber reflexively turned to face Rin, but quickly averted her eyes with a blush. After taking a second to recompose herself, she nodded in agreement. Saber probably recognized the suggestion as mere pretense, but thankfully she went along with it anyway; apparently just as eager to break the ice.

Rin took the loofah from its place on the rack and applied her favorite body soap to it. "I love this stuff you know." Rin explained clumsily. "It makes your skin nice and, also..." She trailed off, suddenly realizing that not only was Saber's complexion naturally perfect, she wasn't sure whether or not that sort of cosmetic would even have an effect on a Servant. Swallowing the momentary envy she felt towards the perfect girl, she said. "You know what, why don't you just use it on me instead?" She shoved the tool into the Servant's hand.

"May I?" Saber still looked unsure, as though she were scared to touch Rin. The magus just nodded with a smile, turning to show her back to Saber. Awkwardly, the golden haired girl began to scrub Rin's back with the sponge, each little movement being second-guessed along the way. The further along she went the more confidence she built up. The quiet intimacy began to make Rin's face redden, and not just from the hot water. At some point, though Rin could not be sure when, Saber had put the loofah down and began rubbing Rin's back with her bare hands. Rin smiled, knowing that whatever plan Saber had hatched was about to be executed.

Saber wrapped a hand around Rin's waist, rubbing her abdomen gently. The young magus stood for a long time enjoying the marble-smooth sensation of Saber's skin pressing against her back, as the rush of the water around them seemed to grow to a deafening volume. "I..." Saber finally broke the stalemate. "I love you, Rin." Rin placed her own hand upon Saber's, encouraging her to continue. "When I saw you make love to Shirou a few days ago," She paused for a moment, trying to think of how to phrase her thoughts correctly. "I wanted to make you feel the same way, but I am afraid that I do not know how."

"Well..." Rin couldn't help but grin, she had a feeling that she knew where this was going, and she was especially glad to have been right. "Do you ever touch yourself?"

The answer was stunned silence that made Rin wish she could have seen the look on Saber's face. Finally the Servant choked out, "There have been times, yes."

With a response like that, Rin couldn't help herself. "Oh, really?" Her tone shifted to a playfully teasing one. "You struck me as the type of girl who would never even think about doing something like that."

"It wasn't often!" Saber fired back, defensively. "And beyond that, I had to live my life without any sort of... companionship in that regard."

"Well, now you have me... and Shirou if you want." With that she decided that she had toyed with Saber enough, and fired the final shot. "I'll teach you how to do it if you want." Slowly, she guided her hand, along with Saber's down her stomach and between her legs. "Just do with me what you do to yourself sometimes." Her lover silently obliged, moving her fingers clumsily, though Rin was not sure whether the clunky movements were a result of her nerves or her inexperience. All the while, Rin offered quiet encouragement and pointers. "Move more like this," or "Be more gentle here," she said, leading by example.

In the end, they were unable to reach a completely satisfying conclusion, but the experience of teaching Saber left Rin with a smile on her face. "You did well for your first try, Saber." Rin patted the golden-haired girl on the shoulder as she shut the water off. Rin tried not to think about what their extended shower would do to the water bill. "There is one more thing I would like to try, Rin." Saber spoke up. "However," She stepped out of the shower, and stared at the floor. "Though I may find it too difficult to look you in the face when I attempt it. May I?" With Rin's consent, she carefully got on her knees in front of Rin. It didn't take someone as sharp as Rin to realize what Saber intended to do. After all, Shirou had done the same to her plenty of times before, but for some reason the thought of Saber trying it for the first time was all the more exciting.

Saber began by giving Rin a kiss imbued with such tenderness that it made the black-haired magus cry out, unintentionally. Her whole body was in a state of heightened alertness from the attention it received in the shower. In truth, Saber's actions were just as clumsy and inexperienced as her previous attempt, but still the excitement of the scene was going to Rin's head. "Saber that's..." She placed her hand on her partner's head, spurring her onward as her rising arousal robbed her of the ability to form coherent sentences.

Saber on the other hand seemed to be watching Rin's reactions carefully. Whenever Rin squirmed or made a pleasured moan Saber would keep going, pushing her partner further over the edge. "Keep... Keep going." Rin urged. She had realized that she was reaching her limit, and Saber happily obeyed. Her tongue found a particularly sensitive area (that Rin had pointed out to her in the shower) and attacked it relentlessly; rubbing and stimulating it until Rin's mind went white.

When Rin's thoughts returned to her she was sitting on the cold bathroom tile, arms wrapped around Saber's shoulders. "That was fantastic." She said in a breathy voice, still in a bit of a daze. "Where'd you learn about that sort of thing?"

Saber kept her eyes averted, head still burning red so brightly that Rin thought she saw steam coming from her ears. "Well I... I have overheard various things from my soldiers, at times. Did I overstep my boundaries?" She asked, her voice sounding vaguely guilty.

"Not at all." Rin squeezed the Servant tighter. "You don't have to feel like you have any boundaries with me." She gave Saber a reassuring smile. "Say..." She stood up, offering Saber her hand. "It's late, why don't we go to bed?" Neither of them got much sleep that night, spending most of it together on that soft mattress touching, hugging, caressing; learning about and acclimating to one another's touch and form.

When Saber finally did get to sleep she was met with a surprise. She saw a dream. Not a memory of tragedy like she was used to, but a proper dream. It was something that should have been impossible for a Servant. When she awoke she had, sadly, forgotten the details, but she was certain that it had happened. It was a happy dream of the future. Rin and Shirou, and herself all going about a simple, everyday life. She slowly roused herself from bed and put on a simple blouse to cover herself before walking to window. The sun was rising, and for the first time in what felt like ages, she found that she was actually looking forward to an uncertain future.

The End

Special Note: Well that's the end of my first fanfic. Looking back it really was a stressful experience. Thank you to everyone who put up with my lousy writing to the end, and a special thanks to all my reviewers. If it weren't for you guys I would have quit a long time ago.


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